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The Portland Planning Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday afternoon on a proposal to temporarily suspend zoning codes and permanently modify others to facilitate housing production.

During a Planning Commission work session last week, three substantial changes were made to the proposal, and four technical amendments were made to the code.

The proposed housing production strategy, as outlined in the Housing Regulatory Relief Project, has sparked controversy among the development community and the public, with more than 200 testimonies received in a recent Planning Commission meeting. This strategy includes a temporary five-year suspension of several zoning codes and development standards identified in a Bureau of Development Services (BDS) survey as the top obstructions to housing production.

The three most contentious changes to the zoning codes involve removing eco-roof and bird-safe glazing requirements, suspending ground-floor active uses and height requirements, and reducing the amount of required bike parking.

During the work session last week, four commissioners largely opposed changes to the environmental policies, specifically eco-roofs and bird-safe glazing. Commissioner Nikesh Patel and Commissioner Wade Lange, however, are supportive of the proposal in its entirety.

Patel said that there is 鈥渘o sugarcoating it;鈥� the city is facing a crisis, and the need for housing is urgent. He urged his fellow commissioners not to cherry-pick which individual standards to adopt or reject. While each standard may appear to have a low cost or seem negotiable on its own, the combination of all these changes could significantly improve development feasibility.

However, Vice Chair Michael Pouncil argued that with a housing and climate crisis ongoing, he cannot compromise on the environmental codes for the sake of housing. This sentiment was echoed by Chair Mary-Rain O鈥橫eara and Vice Chair Erica Thompson.

鈥淭he environmental policies, I do not think, are worthy trade-offs because they add very little cost to projects and provide significant benefits, particularly the eco-roofs,鈥� Thompson said.

Proposed housing production strategy alterations

During Tuesday鈥檚 Planning Commission meeting, commissioners will vote whether to recommend the proposed housing production strategy to the Portland City Council next month.

The most substantial amendment to the housing production strategy was to remove the proposed suspension of eco-roofs for housing development. Instead, developments with housing would be exempt from the eco-roof requirement only if the roof were entirely covered with solar panels. This change was intended to provide greater flexibility to housing developments, which may use the solar panels to offset utility costs for renters.

Another significant change to the proposal was to replace the suspension of bird-safe glazing requirements with a temporary allowance for a higher percentage of glazing on the first 60 feet of the building before the bird-safe glazing standard is triggered. Previously, if a new building (or major remodel) had more than 30 percent of the exterior as windows or other glazing within the first 60 feet from the base, bird-safe glazing would be required.

Thompson recommended this adjustment to ensure that housing projects are not penalized for having a glassy ground floor with floor-to-floor windows. Bureau of Planning and Sustainability staff also increased the threshold from 30 to 37 percent because it was found that most housing projects鈥� glazing would fall within the 35-37 percent range.

The proposal to waive the neighborhood contact process was also altered. Instead, there would be a five-year suspension of only the requirement to hold neighborhood meetings. Posting a signage board with project details and contact information would still be required before a permit or land use review.

While the proposed removal of ground floor height and active use requirements in parts of the city was extensively debated in prior Planning Commission meetings, concerns were raised that waiving these requirements could lead to less desirable streets and make possible conversions of ground floors to commercial space difficult. However, commissioners agreed to keep the proposal as originally presented.

鈥淚 think that if there鈥檚 demand for retail,鈥� Commissioner Eli Spevak said, 鈥渞etail figures out how to surface itself.鈥�